Closure
by circustracks
Summary: In which Gou invites Haruka for some treasure hunting


"Haruka-senpai, could you do me a small favour?"

It's right after practice when Gou approaches him. They were a little ways away from everyone when she did. Haruka somehow knew this was coming. Not the favour but this talk what with her stares and fidgety movements when she was near him all throughout practice.

Haruka doesn't look at her when he asks what it is. It been hard to look at her these days, really.

She was fidgeting, still, and she didn't bother to hide how nervous she was. "Well you see, a couple of days ago I was cleaning the house - um, well, with my mom, of course, she decided to clean it up a bit because - I mean there something... well..."

She doesn't look at him as she speaks, but he still narrows his eyes at her, a silent urging for Gou to just be out with it. She purses her lip, eyes looking towards the others who have gone on to the changing rooms while Makoto looking back at them slightly, giving her a reassuring smile. She'd confided with him this plan beforehand, and he told her that he'd at least help give them some privacy while ensuring her that Haruka might possibly do what she asks. A short while in silence, remembering his smile and encouragement is enough to remind her the reason, the importance of this situation, and she steels herself as she asks:

"Would you like to go treasure hunting with me?"

* * *

And that's how Haruka ends up in front of the lot where the iwatobi swimming club once was on a saturday, waiting for Gou so they can start this whole adventure or whatever else Gou is calling it.

She arrives a little after the designated time, and she gives an apologetic smile as she motions for them to start walking. He doesn't speak and simply nods as he moves to walk beside her. Looking straight ahead, he fails to notice Gou looking at him with slight moroseness.

"I'm sorry for suddenly asking you to do something like this, but - um - I really wanted you to go with me for this."

He makes a sound of agreement as she continues to speak. "It's really. . . I know I said it's for my brother, but I didn't properly explain it to you, did I?"

They continue to walk towards their destination in a slow pace. It was the near the end of summer, and the leaves were already the starting to fall. There's a crisp sound at every step they take upon a fallen leaf, and the breeze passing through them is on its way to become chilly. They pass by a suburban area when Gou looks up at some of the tree ahead. Some of the leaves were already light red. Haruka glanced at her, and he saw it. That same look she had a few days back when it was still recent.

_Is this your way of coping?_ He was tempted to ask, but she speaks up again before he has the chance.

"I mentioned that my mom and I were cleaning up the house, right? Well. . . when I was cleaning up my brother's room, I found something." Gou opens the small bag she had brought with her, and she takes out a piece of paper. It was folded with the flap taped shut. "There was this old, ragged box under his bed that I remember he used to keep it when we were younger. He'd put all sorts of things he likes in it, sometimes he'd let me put stuff in it, too. When I opened it though, this was what I found."

She turns it over and at the back of the paper was the word _Haru._

"There was nothing else in the box only this," Gou hands him the paper before opening her bag again to reveal another folded piece of paper. "And this." Opening it revealed a map of the area. Curious, Haruka leaned closer to see the place with the iwatobi swimming club encircled in red with a line drawn from it to another area. Upon closer inspection, the street they were walking through had the line drawn over it as well.

"My brother... liked doing these things - making things like an adventure - making things more fun than they are," she smiles ruefully, still staring at the map. There were handwritten notes here and there on it, too. Haruka looks back at the paper in his hands, the feel of it smooth and somewhat new. He remembers the time capsule, Rin's words long ago, and he silently agrees with Gou's statement. That's just how Rin is - was, really.

They've stopped walking, and Gou looks at him with the same smile. "I know it's for you, but my brother might have hidden something important to him, and I wanted to actually get it back, since I know," she pauses here for a while here before clearing her throat and continuing. "I know he won't go looking for it again, so I wanted to get it back. But since it's written for you. . . I know it may not seem like it, but I think my brother would've wanted you to have this."

Haruka opens the paper, inside it only one sentence.

_Up for some treasure hunting, Haru?_

He folds it again as he finally looks at her. "I'll give you whatever it is he'd hidden. Let's just finish this."

The finality of his statement isn't lost to her. "Are you sure?" Gou asks. "I know it's rude of me to come with you, but I just really want to know what it is. I did plan to give you whatever it is my brother hid."

Haruka starts walking again, leaving her to only follow. "It's fine."

Gou gives him a worried glance. "You don't want it?"

Haruka doesn't reply, and they walk towards the area Gou later points out.

* * *

"This shrine, huh?"

They were in front of an old shrine Haruka remembers he'd passed by before with Makoto and the others. Looking up at the stone steps, he listens as Gou mumbles that there's something written on the map next to this encircled area.

_Below the steps in a stone with light._

"Stone with light, well. . ." Gou motions towards one of the stone lanterns. "It's not exactly with light, but it is a lantern and that counts."

He walks over to the other lantern and, without thought, carefully hoists himself up using the bottom as his footing. He climbs until he's at least able to put his hand through the hole of the lantern. "I'll check for both, just wait," he says.

Thankfully, this stone lantern was already the right one as Haruka was able to take out what was inside. Its texture was smooth, he realised, but there was a part at one side that felt ridged. He moves to go back down though, with Gou's help before checking further. When he opens his hand, he sees it to be a piece of folded paper inside a ziploc bag.

Gou looks at his hand and smiles. "My brother was kinda cautious about this, huh?"

He doesn't respond and merely opens the bag to take out the two items. Upon opening the folded paper, it reads: _That cookbook I checked at your place is still there, right?_

"That's from my brother, right?" He looks to his left to find Gou staring at him. He doesn't comment on how her smile is so strange, so foreign on her. She doesn't smile like this.

"You can see for yourself," he says, instead, handing her the paper. She shakes her head and pushes it back towards him.

"No, this whole thing was for you, so I can't really just go up and look at it."

Haruka gives her a look, asking her whether she's sure or not, but Gou's persistence in not looking was enough. He stares back at the paper, at Rin's handwriting on the crisp paper.

"I think he put something in my house," he mumbles. Gou lifts an eyebrow before finally giving a sigh. It was strange to have it sound sad, amused, and exasperated all at once.

"Figures my brother wouldn't just do this once."

* * *

It was quiet when they arrive at Haruka's place. Aside from their footsteps, there was the sound of leaves being jostled by the wind and faint sound of quite possibly cats somewhere nearby. There was no one around and Gou thinks the silence deafening. The nervousness she's felt throughout this whole escapade almost increasing.

Haruka opens the front door and ushers her to come in, prompting her to at least keep these feelings to herself for now. She knows he's had enough to deal with on his own these past few months.

"His letter said something about a book he looked through before," he mentions upon entering the living room with Gou in tow, leaving the other pieces of paper he's held on the table. "I'll just check it."

She nods, still quiet, leaving him to enter another room. Gou doesn't move to try and accompany him, and merely sits down. It was still so quiet, and it left her to linger in her thoughts for a while.

Why did she want to come and do this in the first place?

She shakes her head, telling herself to not think about it too much. To occupy herself, Gou starts to look around the room for a bit. She notices it, then: things Haruka doesn't usually own, items strewn about with some almost gathering dust. He left them unattended, she realises.

She wants to leave. "Did you find what my brother was hiding?"

There was no answer, and Gou wonders for a while if he'd gone upstairs. Until Haruka comes back in from the kitchen carrying another piece of paper. She tilts her head.

"So the book was in your kitchen?"

Haruka doesn't look at her properly when he answers. "Yeah. It was a cookbook."

She notices how even more reserved he is now, and she ponders on what could've been written in that paper to make him like this. Haruka was quiet, sure, but this silence he's put up with, not just now but these past few months, was alarming. His face looked even more tired than it was.

It's distressing.

"Haruka-senpai?" Gou asks him. He's still not looking at her. "Is. . . Is something wrong?" Not really the best question with the best answer, but she asks knowing that anyway.

Haruka's face was void of any emotion when he finally turns his head to look at her, and Gou knows this is why. This is why throughout this whole time, not just this walk but even before, he had not looked at her properly at all. That blank look that his face makes more frequently the usual isn't something she'd simply overlook.

It takes a while, but he finally speaks. "Can you take me somewhere?"

* * *

They were walking a slow pace, still ways away from the destination, when Haruka speaks up.

"This isn't something he did when he was a kid."

The statement throws Gou off a bit, but she replies regardless. "I think he made it during the days he'd stay over at home. I can't really say for certain when."

She glances at him and she notices that his expression hasn't changed. It was as blank as ever. Even though he isn't looking, she smiles at him apologetically, ruefully.

"Haruka-senpai. . . I'm sorry I came along with you. I know you'd have wanted to do this yourself, but I really. . . I really wanted to. . ." It's so strange to her, this difficulty in speaking. It's like the words themselves do not want to be uttered.

She presses forward, anyway. "I really wanted to be part of something he's left. . . As selfish as it is."

Gou half expected him to just silently accept what she said and move on from it, but he replies to her, surprisingly. "It's fine," he says. "It's really hard to move on, I guess. Especially when this kind of thing happens a few months after what happened."

They're still walking when she turns to him, slight amazement on her features. "Is that what you feel right now, senpai?"

He doesn't answer, but the hint of something passing across his face is enough of an answer for her. There's a small smile before she speaks. "I know though, that it's been the hardest on you."

There's no response, and they simply continue to walk on in silence until they reach their destination.

A few steps away from it, Gou decides to mention. "My brother. . . probably didn't think that the last place he'd hidden his treasure would be right where he'd be, huh?" It wasn't an attempt to lighten the mood, Haruka realises. It was Gou's genuinely pointing out the truth, the irony of the situation.

Ahead, there was a large block of stone separate from the others. It was situated in a way that it overlooked the town and the sea especially. Gou watches from behind as Haruka approaches it slowly, hesitant almost. He stands stock still, and she wonders if he'll stay that way, until he finally moves to kneel in front of it.

He bows.

"Hello, Rin."

Gou backs away to give Haruka some privacy.

* * *

Gou stands near the edge for a while, overlooking the town for a while to keep herself occupied. She's near the grave enough to at least be able to see Haruka's figure in front of it, but not so that she'd be able to hear him. She glances towards him, thinking whether or not she'd check up on him or move farther away, when she sees Haruka already walking back towards her. As he moves closer, she realises that he's carrying a black box.

"It was hidden, almost buried behind the grave. Under the bushes."

She didn't hide her melancholy, even as she smiles at him. "You found it. His treasure, I mean."

Haruka doesn't stop walking, and Gou just walks behind him. She pretends not to have noticed the tears.

That and what looked liked small pieces of pink paper falling at almost every step.

Haruka realises it though, and rubs at his eyes before securing the box and making sure it was shut tight. He stares at it as they walk down, and he thinks of the millions of faux pink petals and that one piece of white paper inside it.

He gives a smile, barely there and tries to hold himself back as he clutches the box even tighter.

"Yeah, I found it."

* * *

inspired by x

I apologise for the story itself, really.


End file.
